The present invention relates to a novel therapeutic pack which is used to transfer heat away from or to a human body.
Traumatic injuries and other maladies often require the application of heat or the removal of heat to the surface of the human body. Generally, ice packs have been employed to inhibit swelling, while the application of heat is generally intended to promote healing. The application of hot and cold packs to areas of the body are normally used to effect such treatment. In the past, heat producing or cold producing materials, i.e. thermal materials, have been placed in a bag and held to a portion of the human body by the injured person or by an attendant. Unfortunately, the act of holding such heat transfer in therapeutic packs is tedious and requires great effort over a long period of time.
In the past, devices and apparatuses have been employed to hold heat transferring packs to the body by the use of straps and pouches. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,586,506, 5,628,772, and 5,766,235 show containers which generally include a mesh covering or layer between the thermal material and the body portion to which the heat transferring pack is applied. In many cases several layers interpose the human body and the thermal material to provide protection to the human skin, but resulting in inefficient heat transfer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,984 shows an expandable wrap with panels to form packets which hold hot or cold thermal packs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,086 discloses a therapeutic pillow in which a thermal liquid is used inside a chamber having a number of baffles to evenly spread the transfer of heat.
A therapeutic heat transferring pack which efficiently transfers the heat to a body part would be an advance in the medical arts.